1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to the structure of bottle cap openers that are used to remove crimped caps from beverage containers. More specifically, the present invention relates to assemblies where a bottle cap opener is attached to a bottle cap or the neck of a beverage container proximate the cap.
2. Prior Art Description
Glass bottles have been used to hold liquid products for hundreds of years. In this long period of time, the glass bottle has evolved very little. However, the devices used to cap the glass bottle have undergone many changes.
Prior to the twentieth century, a liquid product was typically held within a glass bottle using a cork. Although the cork worked well as a cap, it requires a corkscrew for removal. Furthermore, cork wood is expensive and cork caps are difficult to apply to bottles.
In the early part of the twentieth century, many liquid consumer products that were packaged in bottles began to use crimped metal caps. Crimped metal caps were inexpensive and were easier to assemble in an automated factory. Furthermore, crimped metal caps provided better seals to a bottle than did corks. Additionally, although crimped metal caps required a tool to be removed from a bottle, it was far easier to remove a crimped metal cap from a bottle than it is to remove a cork.
By the second half of the twentieth century, twist-off metal caps began to replace crimped metal caps. Twist-off metal caps can be manually removed from a bottle without the use of a bottle cap opening tool. Although metal twist-off caps are more practical than crimped metal caps, twist-off caps have only become popular on the bottle containers of low cost and mass-produced beverages. Manufacturers of high-end beverages and custom market beverages still tend to use crimped metal caps. Crimped metal caps provide a beverage container with a sense of quality that is important to both the beverage manufacturer and the beverage consumer.
In the prior art, crimped metal caps have been designed that can be removed without the need of a bottle cap opener. In such prior art designs, a lever is typically affixed directly to the bottle cap. In this manner, when the lever is pulled upwardly, the crimped metal cap deforms and disengages from the bottle. Such prior art bottle cap designs are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,644 to Berglund, entitled Cap With Tear-Off Tag and U.S. Pat. No. 2,046,173 to Lenhoff, entitled Bottle Cap Remover.
Specialized crimped bottle caps with attached pry levers have a tendency to accidentally open as the levers are contacted during shipping and handling. Furthermore, such specialized crimped bottle caps are expensive to make and have become impractical after the introduction of the lower cost twist-off cap.
The present invention is a crimped cap removal device that attaches to the neck of a beverage container. The cap removal device enables a crimped bottle cap to be removed from a bottle without the use of a secondary tool. It further enables a bottle with a crimped bottle cap to be opened with one hand, while providing a strong cap that will not inadvertently open during handling. The details of the present invention cap removal device are described and claimed below.